Art by Mark PooleCloned from The Redacted Cube (2.0)
The Redacted Cube 2.0 (Now superseded by version 2.1)
WARNING, POWER LEVELS ARE OFF THE CHARTS
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
COWARDS, TURN BACK
The Rules
1.) How to read and view the cards:
When reading a card you do what it says to do regardless of capitalization and italization. What matters while reading is punctuation and spaces.
A useful example: if you read the letters "ea" followed by redaction and then the letters "ch", that spells the word "each".
When you hover over a card in the cube list, if it has two images, then it is a modular card (most are, description down below). The image pictured on the left is the version that is currently represented in the cube.
Flavor text: You will know when you're reading flavor text vs. rules text.
2.) Card Names:
I broke the card name rules. There are multiple unique cards with redundant names, for example: "Ghoul", "Mage", "Guard", "Mentor", "Sphere".... and the list goes on and on. This was multi-purpose: partly to make Lobotomy-style effects playable in a limited environment as well as cards like the Echo-cycle from Darksteel; I also did this to increase the amount of times cards would trigger static abilities.
3.) Name-types:
A card's name-types are subtypes contained in that card's name.
Name-types work like tribal. A ghoul is a ghoul whether on the stack, in a graveyard/library/hand, or on the battlefield. But unlike tribal, it's not a supertype and won't buff your Tarmogoyf.
Name-types and creature/land/enchantment/spell types can be redundant and count as those subtypes. Redundant subtypes only trigger an effect once.
Compound words containing one or more name-types found in a card's name infer that the card possesses all those types [e.g. Guardmage -> Name-types: Guard & Mage].
Cards with the same name-type(s) do not necessarily have the same name [e.g. Guardmage & Mage-guard have different names but equivalent name-types].
4.) Pluralization and misc. grammar:
When an effect triggers on a plural of an object like, "When rats enter the battlefield..." this trigger will only happen once for one-or-more rats entering the battlefield. So for example if an effect put three rats on the battlefield simultaneously it would trigger an ability worded that way only once, not three times.
To use another example: The word "Kin" can be either singular or plural, so you may see a card worded, "When kin enter the battlefield..." which is a subtly different trigger wording than, "When a kin enters the battlefield..." One of those triggers looks for one-or-more Kin, while the other trigger happens for each specific Kin. This is a relevant distinction that could come up. (other examples: Merfolk, Kavu, Leonin, etc.)
5.) Puns/Double-meanings:
A bat (the animal) and a bat (the physical object) have the same sub-type: bat.
If an effect involving a double-meaning regards counting or otherwise seeing a specific object or specific objects, that effect's controller chooses which effect will happen. To give an example of this:
There is the creature card named "Ghouls" which has the text "B: Return Ghouls from your graveyard to the battlefield." The controller of this effect would either get to use this ability to return the card "Ghouls" from the graveyard to the battlefield, or they would get to activate the card "Ghouls" from the battlefield to return all ghouls [cards with the Ghoul(s) subtype] from the graveyard to the battlefield.
6.) Counters:
An effect/ability that says to "move" some number of counters but does not specify what type of counters, or to what type of object, may be moved as the effect's controller sees fit. (Yes you can move a loyalty counter to a land...yes you can move a charge counter to a creature...yes you can move a time counter off a suspended spell onto a permanent. Have fun! Live a little.)
There is a card that creates Shadow counters. Those counters grant whatever permanents that hold the counters with the ability "Shadow".
7.) Targetable graveyards/hands & playing with your opponents stuff:
There are effects that target entire graveyards. Effects that mill an opponents library into your graveyard (cards will still return to OP's GY, but graveyard triggers would be controlled by you). Effects that return a card or even a whole graveyard to an opposing players hand. Effects that shuffle one player's cards into another player's library. Effects that allow a player to play any cards and/or spells from exile, regardless of owner. Effects that allow a player to draw from the bottom of their library. Effects that turn non-land permanents permanently into lands while still retaining their abilities. There are many novel effects that play on these themes.
8.) Modular Cards:
A modular card is a card that has the redaction on the inner sleeve, not the card itself. The inner sleeve can be flipped around to reveal a different variant of the card. This is not a mechanic I designed for game play, but rather something I just stumbled on while making redactions and I thought it was cool. Doing this allows for the cube to have several different iterations by simply flipping a few sleeves around. I like to think of the modular cards filling a similar role to moveable tees or variable holes on a golf course... always keeping players on their toes, never knowing exactly what cards to expect or how the synergies might play out.
Syntax:
1.) Replace all instances of "When" with "Whenever," in other words, read "when" as "whenever".
2.) "Create a ___" means "Create a ___ token". It being a token is implied. For example: "Create a Shivan Dragon," creates a Shivan Dragon token.
3.) "Draw a (card name)" essentially means "Conjure (card name) to your hand," except it still counts as drawing a card for triggers as opposed to conjuring. For example: "Draw a Tolarian Academy."; or "Draw three Brainstorms."; or "Draw a Llanowar Elves."
4.) "Get an energy"... "Gain 1 gold"... "Make a treasure"... "Gain 3 food"... etc. - all these effects do what you'd think they do: create tokens/counters of the respective type and amount for the effect's controlling player.
I think that's it. I hope that's not too complicated. I swear all of this stuff becomes pretty self-evident just by reading and playing with the cards.
-M3